While Bluetooth LE can typically only maintain communications with three or four other devices, the Android tablet at the hub of the Archos smart-home system has a special antenna taking the range to 20 meters and a tweaked software stack allowing it to communicate with up to 32 devices simultaneously.

Ford’s new Focus, unveiled at the show Tuesday, has technology to help drivers park their cars and lets parents adjust various features when their children drive the car.

Posted by
Sam Churchill
on
February 27th, 2014

Worldwide LTE-related subscriptions reached 229.7 million in 2013, and will continually grow at a CAGR of 43.6% between 2013 and 2019, to exceed 2 billion, according to ABI’s latest research. By the end of 2013, LTE-TDD subscribers accounted for 5% of the LTE market, with 94.2% using Frequency Division LTE (LTE-FDD).

“Among the LTE subscription growth, Asia-Pacific contributes the most with a 49% market share. The second greatest contributor is North America with an 18% share,” comments Marina Lu, research associate at ABI Research.

ABI Research forecasts that LTE-Advanced subscribers will grow to 750 million in 2019 accounting for 37.3% of overall LTE subscribers. North America will be the most aggressive LTE-Advanced market, followed by Asia-Pacific and Western Europe. According to a 2012 forecast by Yankee Group, China, India, Europe, the U.S. will boast more than 134 million TD-LTE connections by 2016. Yankee also said China will have 106 million TD-LTE devices by 2016.

South Korean Operators, SK Telecom and LG U+, commercially launched LTE-Advanced networks in June 2013 and by the end of 2013, SK Telecom gained more than 1 million LTE-Advanced subscribers, or 10% of all its LTE subscribers,” adds Jake Saunders, VP and practice director. Some 800,000 TD-LTE base stations around the world will cover 3 billion people this year with 150 million LTE terminals expected to be sold this year, according to the Global TD-LTE Initiative. GSMA earlier said the combined LTE subscriber base (TD & FD) will pass one billion by 2017.

Global VoLTE subscriptions are expected to surpass 1.09 billion in 2019, of which 34.2% are from Asia-Pacific and 27% from North America.

Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel India’s largest mobile carrier, said what the world needed was a good $100 LTE phone. India is also using Time Division LTE, but in the 2.3-2.4 GHz band.

During the summit, GTI showcased 5-mode 13-band terminals in collaboration with its industry partners. China Mobile plans to purchase more than 100 million LTE terminals and promote smartphones supporting 5 modes and 12 or more bands.

GTI has 100 operator members and 73 partners. Under the promotion of GTI, 28 commercial TD-LTE networks have been launched around the world and more than 40 operator members are planning and constructing their commercial TD-LTE networks.

NFC enables contactless financial transactions and data exchange over a very short range. Communication is also possible between an NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip, called a “tag”.

Some 65 NFC-enabled digital Tap-n-Go Points were located around Fira Gran Via by Korean operator KT. The NFC Media Poles deliver a range of information services to visitors at the tap of an NFC phone, including films, coupons, tickets, music and advertisements.

Ten thousand attendees utilised the NFC Badge and nearly 51,000 NFC transactions were made across Fira Gran Via. Building on the success of the NFC Badge in 2013, customers of Bouygues Telecom, Bharti Airtel, Dialog, Etisalat, KT Corp., Orange, Tata and Telstra were able to further streamline their entry to Mobile World Congress by participating in a trial using their mobile operator credentials to confirm their identity.

The GSMA today reported that more than 85,000 visitors from 201 countries attended the 2014 Mobile World Congress, up by 18% over 2013, setting another new record for the mobile industry’s premier event.

The San Jose network uses Ruckus 802.11n radios with multiple antennas and beam-forming. It was implemented by system integrator SmartWave Technologies.

On Tuesday night, the Mountain View City Council approved a new five-year agreement that will see Google turn the downtown corridor into a free outdoor wireless hotspot.

Council members also accepted a $500,000 grant from the Mountain View-based company to install and maintain Wi-Fi networks at the community center, library, teen center, senior center and Rengstorff Park.

Although it’s just speculation, newer technology that could be considered for Mountain View might include Hotspot 2.0, for seamless roaming to Starbucks WiFi or commercial LTE providers, 802.11ac (with beamforming on the 5 GHz band), unlicensed 3.5 GHz backhaul, connection to the Internet of Things, or Bluetooth beaconing.

A Cloud-based Radio Access Network, where a cellular/WiFi basestation is run on software in a data center would be the most interesting path. It may seem unlikely, but with Dish, Intel and Google’s expanded fiber plans in the mix, it’s anybody’s ballgame.

If T-Mobile and Sprint don’t want to join the C-RAN party, Google might blow them off. They can get all the 600 MHz they want next year and Dish is on some 12 million rooftops today.

Posted by
Sam Churchill
on
February 26th, 2014

Spreadtrum unveiled the SC6821 WCDMA smartphone chipset at Mobile World Congress that, they say, will enable $25 smartphones. The two companies have completed the integration of Firefox OS with several of Spreadtrum’s WCDMA and EDGE smartphone chipsets.

The Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL are priced to capture the fast-growing affordable smartphone market and provide an on-ramp to Microsoft services like Skype, OneDrive and outlook.com.

The Nokia 220 is an Internet-ready mobile phone with social apps, priced at only EUR 29. The Nokia Asha 230 is the most affordable Asha touch device ever. Available in single and Dual SIM variants, it will start rolling out immediately across Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.